Occupy Wall Street Celebrates Park Victory With March, Arrests Follow

After learning they had would not be pushed out of Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street protesters rallied. Photo: REUTERS

Invigorated by the news that they would be allowed to remain in their base camp of Zuccotti Park, the Occupy Wall Street protesters took to the streets early Friday for a frenetic protest that resembled a cat-and-mouse game with police officers.

Ebullient protesters wound through the streets of lower Manhattan around 8 a.m., trying to outmaneuver a heavy police presence by switching directions frequently and staying on the move. Protesters sought to temper any confrontations by shouting the whole world is watching or peaceful when police closed in.

Protesters made their way down Broadway before veering off onto a series of side streets in an attempt to circumvent the barricades placed around the entrance to Wall Street. People poured down New Street, many of them throwing themselves over the raised metal barriers in the center of the street, before being turned back by police officers. At times protesters were followed by a cacophony of horns as a small fleet of police officers on motorcycles rumbled behind the crowd, unable to accelerate.

The protest eventually converged on Wall Street, where protesters chanted slogans and held aloft brooms that they had used to clean Zuccotti Park. People then poured onto Water Street, police officers running behind in pursuit, and massed in the intersection before turning back towards Zuccotti Park.

They arrived to find a newly installed set of metal barriers ringing the park.

The NYPD was cruel enough to arrest at least a dozen of our brothers and sisters, but also they're happy to open up our new garage doors for us to come in, a protester told the crowd. A second protester stood to deliver a report on the protest, estimating that some 20 people had been arrested.

Let's not forget, the man said, the huge f***ing victory we won today. Solidarity!